highball
"highball" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“highball” is uncommon English (frequency #81,404 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #81,404
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cocktail made from a spirit plus soda water etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-highball · highball · English
highball · rank #81,404 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #81,404
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH Hetfield
Nearest frequency peer: Hetfield (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “highball”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- hepatology
hepatology
18,599 corpus weight
- Hetfield
Hetfield
18,598 corpus weight
- highball
highball
18,597 corpus weight
- historicism
historicism
18,595 corpus weight
- holdfast
holdfast
18,594 corpus weight
- holey
holey
18,593 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “highball” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | highball |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #81,404 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “highball” in English
Rare enough to double-check
highball is uncommon English at frequency #81,404 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for highball, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From high + ball, of the same railroad origins as lowball. The correct English form is highball, spelled H-I-G-H-B-A-L-L.
Definition
- 1A cocktail made from a spirit plus soda water etc.
- 2An all clear or full speed ahead signal.
- 3A very high bouldering problem, often with a hard landing.
- 4Clipping of highball glass, a tall glass tumbler used for serving highballs.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how highball appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A white ball hauled up to the crossbar indicated that the track was clear; a black ball, run up half way, meant stop. This was the origin of the use of the word "highball" to indicate a clear line ahead, which is still used in U.S.A. railway practice.
2014, EpicTV.com Austrian all rounder Alex Luger climbs what he describes as a highball boulder problem and what most people would call a solo.
Etymology
From high + ball, of the same railroad origins as lowball.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "highball", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).